Surface cleaner with suction and simplified operation

ABSTRACT

A surface cleaner with suction and simplified operation, which can be moved by hand using a push bar (30) over a cleaning surface on the floor, and consists of a pot-shaped housing (6) that is open towards a cleaning surface, in which housing at least one rotor arm (7) having spray nozzles (10) attached to it is driven to rotate under the action of a high-pressure medium, wherein a manually operated valve device (1, 3, 25, 26) is present, which supplies the high-pressure medium selectively to one or more rotor arms (7) and/or to the suction device (8), wherein, for two-handed operation, the manually operated valve device consists of two spatially separated operating handles (1, 3) with manually operated operating levers (25, 26), which are arranged at the two ends of the push bar (30) of the surface cleaner.

The subject of the invention is a surface cleaner with suction and simplified operation according to the preamble of claim 1.

A surface cleaner with suction is known, for example, from the subject matter of DE 20 2011 107 459 U1. The surface cleaner disclosed therein has a 3-way valve, with the aim of enabling a total of three operating states.

A first operating state is achieved via a first valve position of a 3-way valve, and functions so that the rotor arm operated with high pressure, with the spray nozzles located thereon, and a suction device are operated together.

A second operating state provides that the high-pressure medium fed in via a high-pressure source is fed exclusively to a suction device, which sucks the water that has accumulated inside the housing and feeds it into a connected waste water hose.

A third operating state provides a third valve position in which high-pressure cleaning takes place, without switching on the suction device.

However, the disclosed surface cleaner has the disadvantage that it is difficult to operate, because to set the three different operating modes, the user has to lean down towards the bottom housing of the device and set the various valve positions by hand.

In addition to the uncomfortable handling, there is also an operating disadvantage, because the device cannot be operated while the valve is being switched. This leads to undesirable operation interruptions, Furthermore, it is inconvenient to operate the 3-way valve close to the surfaces being cleaned, and close to surfaces which release contamination. Especially in times of the coronavirus, there is a risk of aerosols being produced near the floor when the surface cleaner is operated, which is disadvantageous when the 3-way valve is operated near the floor.

Because of the associated interruption of operation and the associated risk of infection, and the slower mode of operation, such a device has not found broad use.

Moving operating units into the vicinity of the operating fork of a push bar is a known practice, for instance from DE 20 2012 007 333 U1. There, a push bar is provided with two separate operating handles. However, this has the disadvantage that one of the operating handles, along with the high-pressure gun arranged on it, is only able to switch the rotor arm of the surface cleaner on and off, while the other operating handle is assigned a detachable high-pressure spray gun arranged on the push bar, which is used completely separately from the functions of the surface cleaner. Therefore, the transition from surface cleaning to the operation of the high-pressure spray gun also results in an undesirable interruption in operation. The handling of two different devices is also complex.

Also, with such an arrangement of a surface cleaner, rapid operation is not possible, because the device only offers high-pressure cleaning operation with a rotor arm fitted with spray nozzles, without having a suction device.

If there are still residues on the floor that need to be removed, the high-pressure gun is removed from the push bar, and the remaining dirt on the floor is removed in a separate operation.

DE 100 66 009 A1 discloses a surface cleaner having a push bar consisting of two parallel tubes, a single operating handle for a high-pressure gun being arranged on one tube. The handle arranged on the adjacent second tube of the push bar has no actuating function. The suction power can only be adjusted using a hand lever attached directly to the housing. This is associated with increased effort for operation. The hand lever can only be operated when the operator is bent over the housing.

This means that it is not possible to control the inflow of cleaning fluid with an actuating handle arranged at the top of the push bar, and to control the suction power with a further actuating handle arranged on the push bar.

WO 2014066891 A1 discloses a surface cleaner which distributes the cleaning liquid without using a high-pressure pump on a surface to be cleaned, with a liquid distributor which is driven to rotate, and suctions it off with a vacuum arrangement.

The cleaning performance is low because there is no high-pressure cleaning liquid that is sprayed onto the surface to be cleaned, A brush cut-off device is arranged as an electrical switch on the right-hand handle of the two-spar push bar, and a hand-operated rotary valve is arranged on the left-hand side, with which the flow of cleaning fluid to the rotating fluid distributor can be controlled.

As such, there is a need for a design of a surface cleaner that works with a high-pressure jet that can be controlled with an operating handle on one side of the push bar, wherein the suction power of the rotating liquid distributor can be controlled on another operating handle.

The invention therefore has the task of refining a surface cleaner according to the subject matter of DE 20 2011 107 459 U1 or DE 100 66 009 A1 in such a manner that uninterrupted operation of the surface cleaner is possible in several operating states, and in such a manner that an easy and manageable switchover is possible during operation from a high-pressure surface cleaning operation alone, to a suction operation alone, and finally to a dual function consisting of high-pressure and suction operation.

To achieve this object, the invention is characterized by the technical teaching of claim 1.

The advantage of the present invention is that there are two independently operable actuating handles in the region of a push bar, which are preferably attached to one end of the push bar—preferably at the same height and next to each other. This means that the two operating handles are within reach of a standing person and can easily be operated individually or together—with the fingers of one hand in each case—while the surface cleaner is in operation. A two-handed actuation of the spatially separated actuating handles is accordingly provided.

With the given technical teaching there is the advantage that the operating states of the surface cleaner belonging to the three operating modes can be set manually in the region of the operating fork of a push bar,

In a first operating state, when one operating handle is actuated, the high-pressure medium is sent directly to the rotor arm of the surface cleaner, assuming that the other operating handle is not operated, such that a single high-pressure surface cleaning process takes place in this first operating mode.

Conversely, if the other operating handle is actuated without the first-mentioned operating handle being operated, only the waste water generated in the interior of the housing is extracted via a suitable suction device. This constitutes the second operating mode.

If, on the other hand, both operating handles are actuated at the same time, suction is also made possible during high-pressure operation at the same time, which means a particularly simple, gentle and fast operating mode.

In this case, the present invention offers an advantage over the prior art, because the operator can now selectively actuate the two operating handles in the region of the operating fork without the need to operate a valve close to the floor, while remaining in an upright working position, and can also move the device during this operation further along the floor, and carry out the necessary cleaning work without interrupting operations.

The technical teaching according to claim 1 therefore leads to a simpler, uninterrupted operation of such a surface cleaner with three different operating states.

In normal use, both operating handles are actuated in order to carry out the second operating state of the suction in addition to the operating state of surface cleaning.

It is possible for water to remain on the cleaned surface. In this case, the operating handle responsible for high-pressure cleaning is dosed by releasing it, and only the operating handle responsible for suction continues to be actuated, such that only suction takes place, without further surface cleaning.

This has the advantage that no residual water remains during the surface cleaning, because the two actuating levers can be operated alternately and under visual control of the operator, without the operator having to interrupt the cleaning work and switch a valve dose to the floor.

Another advantage of the invention is that if only the actuating lever for feeding in the high-pressure medium is actuated, a high cleaning force (rotary speed) is achieved on the rotor arm and the spray nozzles (high-pressure) attached to it. If, however, both actuating levers are actuated, because the suction is switched on, the effective cleaning pressure on the cleaning surface drops because it is partly made available for the suction device. The user can then always operate the two actuating levers alternately or simultaneously under visual control in order to create a cleaned surface that has been freed from water residues.

Experiments by the applicant have shown that about 33% of the total water volume is used to supply the suction device, which means that the cleaning performance drops somewhat when the high-pressure cleaning and suction are operated at the same time. However, it is advantageous that a relatively small amount of water is required for the suction device and, at the same time, there is a superior suction effect. The suction device with the built-in Venturi nozzle was optimized for this purpose in order to reduce the water consumption to 33% of the total amount of water, with good suction performance.

The suction power of the Venturi nozzle used must therefore be matched to the cleaning effect of the high-pressure arm, which has been achieved in an ideal way with the above-mentioned ratio.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the two actuating handles are designed as pistol grips, as is customary with high-pressure guns for high-pressure cleaners. Each pistol-like grip has an operating lever that can be operated by hand.

The invention is not restricted to this. It is also possible to use other actuating handles with associated adjusting levers, such as ball valves with a bail tap, or actuating members that have rolling elements or similar actuating elements instead of an actuating lever.

The invention is therefore not dependent on the design of the operating handle as a pistol handle, but rather provides any other form of operating handle.

In a further development of the present invention, it was found that because of the current distribution of the high-pressure flow to the suction device and on the rotor arm, problems arise when the suction device is operated alone and the high-pressure cleaning does not take place. In this case, a relatively high water pressure is supplied to the suction device alone, which, however, is not calibrated for this water pressure.

For this reason, a further feature of the invention provides that there is a pressure relief valve on the inlet side of the suction device which, in the event of overpressure, bypasses the Venturi nozzle via a bypass line and opens the bypass when a set high pressure is exceeded. This prevents the Venturi nozzle from being overloaded.

This also prevents the high-pressure pump, which provides the high-pressure medium, from being overloaded.

It is particularly advantageous that the bypass water, which is let out via the bypass line from the pressure relief valve in the event of overpressure, is also fed to the outlet of the suction device and does not reach the floor.

In addition, the invention does not rely on a push bar with a push fork or operating fork attached to it.

In the other embodiment, it can be provided that instead of the operating fork, there is a self-contained push handle which fulfills the same function, because the operating handles according to the invention are preferably arranged on the left and right of such a push handle.

The subject matter of the present invention results not only from the subject matter of the individual claims, but also from the combination of the individual claims with each other.

All information and features disclosed in the documents, including the abstract, in particular the spatial configuration shown in the drawings, could be claimed to be substantial to the invention insofar as they are novel over the prior art, individually or in combination. The use of the terms “substantial” or “according to the invention,” or “substantial to the invention” is subjective and does not imply that the features named in this way must necessarily be part of one or more claims.

In the following, the invention is explained in more detail with the aid of the drawings, which show only one embodiment. Further features and advantages of the invention that are substantial to the invention are clear from the drawings and its description.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1: is a perspective side view of a surface cleaner according to the invention

FIG. 2: is an enlarged detailed illustration according to FIG. 1

FIG. 3: is the enlarged detail view of FIG. 1, on the operating side

FIG. 4: is a view of the underside of the housing

In FIG. 1, a surface cleaner is shown which substantially consists of an approximately pot-shaped and cylindrical housing 6 which is open at the bottom on one side, and on whose outer circumference a number of casters 20 are arranged, evenly distributed around the circumference. According to FIG. 4, the housing 6 forms a double jacket 27 which forms an annular gap 28 between the outer and inner jacket, through which the suction takes place on the cleaned surface. Instead of arranging an annular gap 28 assigned to the suction device, suitable suction nozzles according to DE 20 2011 107 459 U1 can also be arranged in the housing 6. The lower edge of the housing is sealed against the cleaning surface on the bottom side by means of a circumferential, self-contained, annular brush seal 29, which is arranged on the lower edge of the housing.

In the interior of the housing 6 there is a rotor arm 7 with two opposite cleaning nozzles, which are directed obliquely against the rotor direction, in order to achieve a rotation of the rotor arm 7 during high-pressure operation by the resulting recoil effect. At the same time, the cleaning nozzles emit a forced high-pressure jet onto the surface to be cleaned.

The invention is not limited to a single rotor arm 7 with two opposite cleaning nozzles. There can also be a cruciform arrangement of a rotor arm, or a plurality of rotor arms.

The rotor arm 7 is rotatably attached to a swivel joint 5 in the center of the housing. The high-pressure medium is fed to the rotor arm 7 through the swivel joint 5.

A push bar 30 attaches to the housing, which in the embodiment shown consists of two parallel push bar tubes 16 which fork in the region of the housing 6 and are pivotably received there in the region of two spaced apart swivel joints 17, 18.

In this way, the working angle for the operator can be continuously adjusted with the inclination of the push bar 30.

The push bar 30 with its push bar tube 16 branches in the upper area into two fork tubes 14, 15, which form an operating fork 11.

The two operating handles 1, 3 according to the invention are each arranged at the ends of the operating fork 11.

The operating handle 1 intended for the high-pressure cleaning mode is designed as a pistol grip and has a first operating lever 25, while the second operating handle 3 intended for the suction mode has a further operating lever 26.

The high-pressure medium is fed into the operating handle 1 via a high-pressure connection 24, and is simultaneously fed to the input side of the other operating handle 3 via a T-shaped adapter 2 with a connecting hose 23.

The high-pressure medium is therefore constantly applied to the high-pressure connection 24, and also to the input side of the operating handle 1 and to the input side of the operating handle 3.

Upon actuation of the actuating lever 25 in the (right) actuating handle 1, the high-pressure medium is fed via the high-pressure hose 4 a into the central swivel joint 5 on the housing to supply pressure to the rotor arm 7, which results in the first operating mode—specifically, high-pressure surface cleaning via the action of the cleaning nozzles on the rotor arm 7.

If it turns out that water remains on the surface being cleaned, which can be the case with high-pressure operation alone, the operator optionally and under his visual control opens the (left) operating handle 3 in order to switch on the suction device 8, by actuating the operating lever 26.

The suction device 8 is attached to the housing 6. In its interior, a Venturi nozzle 9 is arranged in a manner known per se (DE 20 2011 107 459 U1); the high-pressure hose 4 b applies the high-pressure medium thereto when the actuating lever 26 on the actuating handle 3 is actuated (see FIG. 3).

As such, during the surface cleaning operation, the operator can optionally switch on the suction, or not, by actuating the actuating lever 26 in the actuating handle 3.

In the suction mode alone, the actuating lever 25 in the actuating handle 1 is closed, and only the actuating lever 26 on the actuating handle 3 is open, such that only the suction device 8 is put into operation—which then extracts the amount of water remaining on the cleaning surface through the annular gap 28 with a particularly high vacuum. It leads into a waste water hose (not shown in detail) connected to the outlet of the suction device.

It may be that in the suction mode alone, an overload of the Venturi nozzle 9 could occur, due to the applied overpressure of the high-pressure water supply. Therefore, a pressure relief valve 21, which has a bypass line 22, is arranged on the inlet side of the suction device 8. The bypass line is shown with dashed lines in FIGS. 1 and 2, because it is located in the interior of the suction device 9. When the pressure relief valve 21 is triggered, the excess water is passed through the bypass line 22 into the drain, bypassing the Venturi nozzle 9.

The casters 20 of the chassis 19 shown here can also be designed in a different manner. Roller elements, ball rollers, sliding elements, runners or the like can be used. Overall, the technical teaching according to the invention results in a significant operating advantage and an improved working speed with an improved working result and better cleaning performance.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

1 operating handle (right)

2 adapter

3 operating handle (left)

4 a high-pressure hose; 4 b high-pressure hose

5 swivel joint

6 housing

7 rotor arm

8 suction device

9 Venturi nozzle

10 spray nozzle

11 operating fork

12 connector

13 connector

14 fork tube

15 fork tube

16 push bar tube

17 swivel joint

18 swivel joint

19 chassis

20 castor

21 pressure relief valve

22 bypass line

23 connecting hose

24 high-pressure connection

25 operating fever (right)

26 operating lever (left)

27 double jacket

28 annular gap

29 brush seal

30 push bar 

1. A surface cleaner with suction and simplified operation, which can be moved by hand using a push bar over a cleaning surface on the floor, and consists of a pot-shaped housing that is open towards a cleaning surface, in which housing at least one rotor aim having spray nozzles attached to it is driven to rotate under the action of a high-pressure medium, wherein a manually operated valve device is present, which supplies the high-pressure medium selectively to one or more rotor arms and/or to the suction device, characterized in that, for two-handed operation, the manually operated valve device consists of two spatially separated operating handles with manually operated operating levers, which are arranged at the two ends of the push bar of the surface cleaner.
 2. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein, in a first operating state with the actuation of the first operating lever in the first operating handle, the high-pressure medium can be supplied to the rotor aim, wherein, in a second operating state with the actuation of the second operating lever in the second operating handle, the suction device is supplied with the high-pressure medium alone, and wherein, in a third operating state with the actuation of both operating levers in the two operating handles, the high-pressure medium can be supplied to both the rotor arm and the suction device.
 3. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the high-pressure medium is applied via a high-pressure connection to the input of the first operating handle, to which a T-shaped adapter attaches, via which the high-pressure medium is directed into a connecting hose which opens into the input side of the second operating handle.
 4. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the push bar consists of two parallel push bar tubes which open into two parallel swivel joints in the region of the housing of the surface cleaner.
 5. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the upper, operator-end of the push bar opens into two oppositely positioned fork tubes, to which the operating handles are attached.
 6. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the actuating handles are designed as pistol grips.
 7. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the Venturi nozzle arranged in the suction device is preceded on the inlet side by a pressure relief valve.
 8. The surface cleaner according to claim 7, wherein the pressure relief valve, in the event of overpressure, directs the high-pressure medium at least partially into a bypass line bridging the Venturi nozzle and opening into the outlet of the suction device.
 9. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein in the double operation mode with both surface cleaning and suction, the water consumption of the suction device is about 20% to 40%, preferably 33%, of the total amount of water.
 10. The surface cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the swivel angle of the push bar is continuously adjustable. 